Wireless communication device using time-variant antenna module

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe methods, apparatuses, and systems related to a wireless communication device using time-variant antenna. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/150,104, filed May 9, 2016, which is a divisional of U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/996,516, filed Oct. 7, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,350,394,issued May 24, 2016, which is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US2011/065629, filed Dec. 16,2011, the contents and disclosure of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field ofwireless communication devices, and more particularly, to a wirelesscommunication device using a time-variant antenna module.

BACKGROUND

Decreasing form factors in wireless communication devices coupled with aproliferation of wireless protocols by which the devices couple withvarious networks are challenging device design. Some designs employ alarge passive antenna that is capable of covering a full radio-frequency(RF) band, even if the device ultimately operates primarily or evenexclusively with only a relatively small subset of the RF band.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a transceiver in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a transceiver in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a transceiver in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a tuning operation in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system that may be used to practice variousembodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof, wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way ofillustration embodiments in which the subject matter of the presentdisclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may bemade without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

Various operations are described as multiple discrete operations inturn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the claimedsubject matter. However, the order of description should not beconstrued as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B”means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B),(A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “inembodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same ordifferent embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,”“having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, are synonymous.

As used herein, the term “module” may refer to, be part of, or includean Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablecomponents that provide the described functionality.

According to various embodiments, the present disclosure describes asystem including an antenna module, the antenna module having, anantenna, an impedance varying component coupled with the antenna and awaveform generator coupled with the antenna and the impedance varyingcomponent. The system may further include a radio module coupled withthe antenna module by a signaling interface, the radio module beingconfigured to communicate a radio-frequency (RF) signal with the antennamodule and a control module coupled with the waveform generator and theradio module, the control module configured to receive statusinformation and to control the waveform generator to vary a response ofthe antenna based on the status information.

In some embodiments, the radio module may include a sensor configured tosense an electrical characteristic associated with the radio moduleand/or the antenna module and to generate the status information basedon the sensed electrical characteristic. The sensed electricalcharacteristic may correspond to an input impedance of the antennamodule and/or an output impedance of the radio module during operationof the system.

In some embodiments, the impedance varying component is a varactorand/or the signaling interface is a coaxial cable.

In some embodiments, the system further includes a filter coupled withthe waveform generator and the impedance varying component, the filterconfigured to pass a control waveform to the impedance varying componentand to block a radio frequency signal from the waveform generator.

In some embodiments, the signaling interface is a first signalinginterface and the antenna module includes a second signaling interfaceto couple the filter to the impedance varying component. In someembodiments, the first signaling interface is a first coaxial cable andthe second signaling interface is a second coaxial cable.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a circuit boardhaving the radio module and the control module disposed thereon, whereinthe antenna module is disposed separately from the circuit board.

In some embodiments, the circuit board is a first circuit board and thesystem further includes a second circuit board coupled with the firstcircuit board and having the radio module disposed thereon.

The present disclosure may further describe a system including a circuitboard, a radio module disposed on the circuit board, an antenna moduledisposed separately from the circuit board, the antenna module includingan antenna and an impedance varying component, the antenna moduleconfigured to communicate a radio frequency (RF) signal with the radiomodule via a signaling interface, a waveform generator disposed on thecircuit board and coupled with the signaling interface, and a controlmodule coupled with the radio module and the waveform generator andconfigured to control the waveform generator to provide a controlwaveform on the signaling interface to vary a response of the antenna.

In some embodiments, the radio module and the waveform generator aremonolithically integrated in a common die.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a filter coupledwith the waveform generator and configured to provide the controlwaveform to the signaling interface, wherein the sensor ismonolithically integrated in the common die with the radio module andthe waveform generator.

In some embodiments, the filter is coupled with the signaling interfacethrough an RF transmission line of the radio module.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a filter coupledwith the waveform generator and the impedance varying component andconfigured to pass the control waveform to the impedance varyingcomponent and block the RF signal from the waveform generator.

In some embodiments, the circuit board is a first circuit board and thesystem further includes a second circuit board disposed on the firstcircuit board and having the radio module, the waveform generator, andthe filter disposed thereon.

In some embodiments, the filter is directly coupled with the signalinginterface. In some embodiments, the radio module further includes asensor coupled with one or more components of the radio module and/orantenna module and configured to provide status information to thecontrol module based on sensed electrical characteristics.

In some embodiments, the sensor is configured to sense electricalcharacteristics at one more locations within the radio module and toprovide radio status information based on the sensed electricalcharacteristics. In some embodiments, the control module is configuredto control the waveform generator based on pre-programmed tuningparameters. In some embodiments, the control module is configured tocontrol the waveform generator based on operational parameters.

The present disclosure may further describe one or more computerreadable media having instructions that, when executed cause atransceiver to sense an electrical characteristic associated with aradio module and/or a time-variant antenna module, compare sensedelectrical characteristics to predetermined desired electricalcharacteristics, and adjust, based on said comparing, a control waveformto vary characteristic resonant frequencies of an antenna of thetime-variant antenna module.

In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed further cause thetransceiver to determine that an absolute value of a difference betweenthe sensed electrical characteristics and the desired electricalcharacteristics is greater than a predetermined value and adjust thecontrol waveform based on said determination. In some embodiments, theelectrical characteristic is an output impedance of the radio moduleand/or an input impedance of the antenna module.

FIG. 1 illustrates a transceiver 100 in accordance with someembodiments. The transceiver 100 may include an antenna module 102, aradio module 104 and a control module 106 coupled with one another atleast as shown. The antenna module 102 may include a waveform generator108, a filter 110, an antenna 112, and an impedance-varying component(IVC) 114. The antenna module 102 may be a time-variant antenna modulethat is capable of dynamically changing a resonance response of theantenna 112, hereinafter “antenna response.”

The waveform generator 108 may generate one of a plurality of controlwaveforms that is provided to the filter 110. The filter 110 may pass acontrol waveform to the IVC 114 and block radio frequency (RF) signalsfrom the waveform generator 108. The control waveform may be in the lowmegahertz range, while RF signal may be in the gigahertz range, therebyfacilitating filtering operations of the filter 110.

The filter 110 may be coupled with IVC 114 by a signaling interface 118to facilitate transmission of the control waveform. The signalinginterface 118 may be a coaxial cable. The control waveform is excited tothe antenna 112 through the IVC 114, which may be a varactor, forexample. The voltages in the control waveform may vary the impedance ofthe IVC 114 and result in controlled variations of the characteristicresonant frequencies of the antenna 112. A modulation frequency of thecontrol waveforms may be greater than twice the radio signal bandwidthto meet Nyquist sampling theorem for transmitting/receiving data withoutdata contamination.

By varying the impedance of the IVC 114, the antenna response may bereconfigured to change a resonating frequency from a first band to asecond band, from one band to multi-bands, and/or from a relativelynarrowband to a relatively wideband. In various embodiments, a controlwaveform that is a square waveform may result in a dual-band antennaresponse, a control waveform that is a tri-step waveform may result in atri-band antenna response, and a control waveform that is a sawtoothwaveform may result in a wideband antenna response. Varying amplitude,frequency, and/or shape of the control waveform may result in otherantenna responses without changing the antenna structure.

In addition to or as an alternative of band reconfiguration of theantenna response, as described above, varying of the impedance of theIVC 114 may improve antenna efficiency through impedance matching at theoperating frequency.

The radio module 104 may be coupled with antenna 112 by a signalinginterface 120 for transmission of a data-carrying signal such as an RFsignal. The signaling interface 120 may be a coaxial cable. The radiomodule 104 may communicate, e.g., transmit/receive, the RF signal withthe antenna module 102 by way of the signaling interface 120. The radiomodule 104 may include a transmission line 132 to communicate the RFsignal with the signaling interface 120.

The control module 106 may be coupled with the antenna module 102 andprovide, e.g., digital control signals to the waveform generator 108 bya control interface 122. The control module 106 may control the waveformgenerator 108 based on operational parameters 124 and/or tuningparameters 126.

Operational parameters 124, in some embodiments, may be parameters thatrelate to an operational mode of the transceiver 100. For example, insome embodiments, the transceiver 100 may switch between operating in afirst operational mode in accordance with a first protocol (e.g. digitaltelevision (DTV), long-term evolution (LTE), WiFi, WiMAX, Bluetooth,global positioning satellite (GPS), near field communication (NFC),etc.) that uses a first antenna response, to operating in a secondoperational mode in accordance with a second protocol that uses a secondantenna response. Different operational modes may also be used withinone protocol. For example, the transceiver 100 may use a first antennaresponse for uplink communications and a second antenna response fordownlink communications. Other operational parameters may beadditionally/alternatively used in other embodiments.

The capability of dynamically reconfiguring the antenna response mayallow for the antenna 112 to be smaller than a conventional antennaand/or may allow for the use of less antennas altogether. In someembodiments, the antenna 112 may be smaller than a conventional antennaby 30% or more.

Tuning parameters 126, in some embodiments, may be parameters thatrelate to the operating environment of the transceiver 100 or itscomponents. For example, in some embodiments the position of a user'shand holding a mobile device hosting the transceiver 100 may detune anantenna response. In another example, an antenna response may changefrom an expected antenna response during installation and placement ofthe antenna 112 in the mobile device. In either example, the controlmodule 106 may control the waveform generator 108 in a manner to applycontrol waveforms with appropriate amplitude, shape, and/or frequency totune the antenna response to compensate for undesired changes. In such amanner, the antenna response may be adapted to a particular environmentin which the antenna 112 is operating.

In various embodiments, the control module 106 may be pre-programmedwith the tuning parameters, e.g., at assembly of the mobile device,and/or may receive the tuning parameters dynamically through operation.For example, in one embodiment the radio module 104 may include a sensor134 to sense changes in electrical characteristics associated withcomponents of the radio module 104 and/or antenna module 102. In variousembodiments, the sensor 134 may include one or more sensors that areplaced in additional/alternative locations in the transceiver 100, e.g.,in the antenna module 102. In various embodiments, the sensor 134 maysense changes in an output impedance of the radio module 104, an inputimpedance of the antenna module 102, a signal power on transmission line132, etc. These sensed changes may indicate that an antenna response hasbecome detuned. The sensor 134 may generate status information, e.g.,radio status information (RSI), based on these sensed electricalcharacteristics and feed the RSI back to the control module 106. Thecontrol module 106 may then adjust the antenna response accordingly.

In some embodiments, the radio module 104 and the control module 106 maybe disposed on a common circuit board, e.g., printed circuit board (PCB)128. The radio module 104 may be directly coupled with the PCB 128 orcoupled with the PCB 128 through another circuit board, e.g., wirelesscard 130. The antenna module 102 may be disposed separately from the PCB128. The waveform generator 108 may receive power from the PCB 128 by apower interface 116.

In some embodiments, the control module 106 may be implemented on thewireless card 130 or in the radio module 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates a transceiver 200 in accordance with someembodiments. The transceiver 200 and its components may operate similarto transceiver 100 and its components except as otherwise noted.

The transceiver 200 may include an antenna module 202, a radio module204 and a control module 206 coupled with one another at least as shown.

The antenna module 202 may include an antenna 212 and an IVC 214.However, in this embodiment, a waveform generator 208 and a filter 210may be disposed on the PCB 228, either directly or by being coupled witha wireless card 230 that is coupled with the PCB 228, rather than beingon the antenna module 202.

The radio module 204 may be coupled with the antenna module 202 bysignaling interface 220. The filter 210 may be directly coupled with thesignaling interface 220 at node 216 to provide the control waveform.Node 216 may be on the wireless card 230 or on PCB 228. Coupling thefilter 210 to the signaling interface 220 at node 216, may reduce thenumber of signaling and power interfaces as compared to the embodimentshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a transceiver 300 in accordance with someembodiments. The transceiver 300 and its components may operate similarto transceiver 200 and its components except as otherwise noted.

The transceiver 300 may include an antenna module 302, a radio module304 and a control module 306 coupled with one another at least as shown.

The antenna module 302 may include an antenna 312 and an IVC 314.However, in this embodiment, a waveform generator 308 and a filter 310may be disposed in the radio module 304. Thus, the waveform generator308 and the filter 310 may be monolithically integrated with the radiomodule components, e.g., power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers,matching networks, etc.

The filter 310 may be coupled with transmission line 332 at node 316.The transmission line 332 may, in turn, be coupled with signalinginterface 320. Similar to transceiver 200, transceiver 300 may reducethe number of signaling interface as compared to the embodiment shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a tuning operation 400 in accordancewith some embodiments. At block 402, the tuning operation 400 mayinclude sensing, e.g., with sensor 134, 234, or 334, electricalcharacteristics (EC) at one or more locations within a radio module. Forexample, the EC may be sensed at a radio module's transmission line,which is coupled with a signaling interface, at a low noise amplifier,at a power amplifier, etc. In various embodiments, various electricalcharacteristics may be sensed including, but not limited to, signalpower and output impedance of the radio module during operation. Inother embodiments, EC may be sensed at other locations and may be, e.g.,an input impedance of an antenna module.

At block 404, the tuning operation 400 may include comparing sensedelectrical characteristics (SEC) to predetermined desired electricalcharacteristics (DEC). The DEC may be a range of permissible or expectedvalues of the particular electrical characteristics. The comparing ofblock 404 may include determining whether an absolute value of adifference between SEC and DEC is greater than a predetermined thresholdvalue. The predetermined threshold value may correspond with the rangeof permissible or expected values.

If, at block 404, it is determined that the difference between the SECand the DEC is greater than the predetermined threshold value, thetuning operation 400 may advance to block 406.

At block 406, the tuning operation 400 may include adjusting a controlwaveform. The adjusting of the control waveform may occur by a controlmodule, e.g., control module 106, 206, or 306, providing appropriatedigital control signals to a waveform generator, e.g., waveformgenerator 108, 208, or 308. The tuning operation may then loop back tosensing of the EC at block 402.

If, at block 404, it is determined that the difference between the SECand the DEC is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value,the tuning operation 400 may loop back to sensing of the EC at block402.

The transceivers described herein may be implemented into a system usingany suitable hardware and/or software to configure as desired. FIG. 5illustrates, for one embodiment, an example system 500 comprising one ormore processor(s) 504, system control logic 508 coupled with at leastone of the processor(s) 504, system memory 512 coupled with systemcontrol logic 508, non-volatile memory (NVM)/storage 516 coupled withsystem control logic 508, and a network interface 520 coupled withsystem control logic 508.

The processor(s) 504 may include one or more single-core or multi-coreprocessors. The processor(s) 504 may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.).

System control logic 508 for one embodiment may include any suitableinterface controllers to provide for any suitable interface to at leastone of the processor(s) 504 and/or to any suitable device or componentin communication with system control logic 508.

System control logic 508 for one embodiment may include one or morememory controller(s) to provide an interface to system memory 512.System memory 512 may be used to load and store data and/orinstructions, for example, for system 500. System memory 512 for oneembodiment may include any suitable volatile memory, such as suitabledynamic random access memory (DRAM), for example.

NVM/storage 516 may include one or more tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable media used to store data and/or instructions, forexample. NVM/storage 516 may include any suitable non-volatile memory,such as flash memory, for example, and/or may include any suitablenon-volatile storage device(s), such as one or more hard disk drive(s)(HDD(s)), one or more compact disk (CD) drive(s), and/or one or moredigital versatile disk (DVD) drive(s), for example.

The NVM/storage 516 may include a storage resource physically part of adevice on which the system 500 is installed or it may be accessible by,but not necessarily a part of, the device. For example, the NVM/storage516 may be accessed over a network via the network interface 520.

System memory 512 and NVM/storage 516 may respectively include, inparticular, temporal and persistent copies of tuning logic 524 andparameters 526, e.g., operational and tuning parameters. The tuninglogic 524 may include instructions that when executed by at least one ofthe processor(s) 504 result in the system 500 performing tuningoperations described herein. In some embodiments, the tuning logic 524,or hardware, firmware, and/or software components thereof, mayadditionally/alternatively be located in the system control logic 508,the network interface 520, and/or the processor(s) 504.

Network interface 520 may have a transceiver 522 to provide a radiointerface for system 500 to communicate over one or more network(s)and/or with any other suitable device. The transceiver 522 may besimilar to, and substantially interchangeable with, transceivers 100,200, and/or 300. In various embodiments, the transceiver 522 may beintegrated with other components of system 500. For example, thetransceiver 522 may include a processor of the processor(s) 504, memoryof the system memory 512, and NVM/Storage of NVM/Storage 516. Networkinterface 520 may include any suitable hardware and/or firmware. Networkinterface 520 may include a plurality of antennas to provide a MIMOradio interface. Network interface 520 for one embodiment may include,for example, a network adapter, a wireless network adapter, a telephonemodem, and/or a wireless modem.

For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 504 may be packagedtogether with logic for one or more controller(s) of system controllogic 508. For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 504 maybe packaged together with logic for one or more controllers of systemcontrol logic 508 to form a System in Package (SiP). For one embodiment,at least one of the processor(s) 504 may be integrated on the same diewith logic for one or more controller(s) of system control logic 508.For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 504 may beintegrated on the same die with logic for one or more controller(s) ofsystem control logic 508 to form a System on Chip (SoC).

The system 500 may further include input/output (I/O) devices 532. TheI/O devices 532 may include user interfaces designed to enable userinteraction with the system 500, peripheral component interfacesdesigned to enable peripheral component interaction with the system 500,and/or sensors designed to determine environmental conditions and/orlocation information related to the system 500.

In various embodiments, the user interfaces could include, but are notlimited to, a display (e.g., a liquid crystal display, a touch screendisplay, etc.), a speaker, a microphone, one or more cameras (e.g., astill camera and/or a video camera), a flashlight (e.g., a lightemitting diode flash), and a keyboard.

In various embodiments, the peripheral component interfaces may include,but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, an audio jack, and apower supply interface.

In various embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to,a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient lightsensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be partof, or interact with, the network interface 520 to communicate withcomponents of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system(GPS) satellite.

In various embodiments, the system 500 may be a mobile computing devicesuch as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tabletcomputing device, a netbook, a smartphone, etc. In various embodiments,system 500 may have more or less components, and/or differentarchitectures.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described hereinfor purposes of description, a wide variety of alternate and/orequivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the samepurposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and describedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thisapplication is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of theembodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended thatembodiments described herein be limited only by the claims and theequivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: an antenna to receive ortransmit a radio frequency (RF) signal; an impedance varying circuitcoupled with the antenna; and control circuitry to control applicationof a control waveform to a signal output to tune a resonance response ofthe antenna with the impedance varying circuit, wherein the signaloutput is at the antenna.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: a waveform generator coupled with the antenna and theimpedance varying circuit, the waveform generator to apply the controlwaveform to the signal output.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, furthercomprising: a filter coupled with the impedance varying circuit and thewaveform generator, the filter to pass the control waveform to theimpedance varying circuit and to block the RF signal from the waveformgenerator.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry isto control application of the control waveform to tune the resonanceresponse of the antenna from a first band to a second band.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: sensor circuitry to sensechanges in a signal power at the signal output based on the controlwaveform and provide feedback to the control circuitry based on thesensed changes.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controlcircuitry is to control application of the control waveform to tune theresonance response of the antenna based on the feedback from the sensorcircuitry.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: radiocircuitry to provide the RF signal to the antenna or receive the RFsignal from the antenna.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, furthercomprising: a circuit board having the radio circuitry and the controlcircuitry disposed thereon, wherein the antenna is disposed separatelyfrom the circuit board.
 9. One or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia having instructions that, when executed, cause control circuitryof a device to: receive sensor feedback based on a signal power of aradio frequency (RF) signal at a signal output; and control applicationof a control waveform to the signal output to tune a resonance responseof an antenna with an impedance varying component that is coupled withthe antenna at the signal output.
 10. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted, further cause the control circuitry to: control a waveformgenerator coupled with the antenna to apply the control waveform to thesignal output.
 11. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, further causethe control circuitry to control application of the control waveform totune the resonance response of the antenna from a first band to a secondband.
 12. An apparatus comprising: an antenna to receive or transmit aradio frequency (RF) signal; an impedance varying component coupled withthe antenna; and a waveform generator coupled with the antenna and theimpedance varying component, the waveform generator to apply a controlwaveform to the antenna to control the impedance varying component tovary a resonance response of the antenna.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12,further comprising: control circuitry coupled with the waveformgenerator, the control circuitry to control the waveform generator totune the resonance response of the antenna.
 14. The apparatus of claim13, wherein the control circuitry is to control the waveform generatorto tune the resonance response of the antenna from a first band to asecond band.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: sensorcircuitry to sense changes in a signal power at the antenna based on thecontrol waveform and provide feedback to the control circuitry based onthe sensed changes.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the controlcircuitry is to control the waveform generator to tune the resonanceresponse of the antenna based on the feedback from the sensor circuitry.17. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: radio circuitry toprovide the RF signal to the antenna or receive the RF signal from theantenna.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising: controlcircuitry coupled with the waveform generator, the control circuitry tocontrol the waveform generator to tune the resonance response of theantenna; and a circuit board having the radio circuitry and the controlcircuitry disposed thereon, wherein the antenna is disposed separatelyfrom the circuit board.
 19. The apparatus of claim 12, furthercomprising: a filter coupled with the waveform generator and theimpedance varying component, the filter to pass the control waveform tothe impedance varying component and to block the RF signal from thewaveform generator.
 20. An apparatus comprising: an antenna; animpedance varying component coupled with the antenna; a waveformgenerator coupled with the antenna and the impedance varying component;radio circuitry coupled with the antenna, the radio circuitry tocommunicate a radio-frequency (RF) signal with the antenna; and controlcircuitry coupled with the waveform generator and the radio circuitry,the control circuitry to receive status information and to control thewaveform generator to vary a resonance response of the antenna based onthe status information.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the radiocircuitry comprises: a sensor to sense an electrical characteristicassociated with the radio circuitry and/or the antenna and to generatethe status information based on the sensed electrical characteristic.22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the sensed electricalcharacteristic corresponds to an input impedance of the antennacircuitry and/or an output impedance of the radio circuitry duringoperation of the system.
 23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein theimpedance varying component is a varactor.
 24. The apparatus of claim20, wherein the radio circuitry is coupled with the antenna through acoaxial cable.
 25. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: acircuit board having the radio circuitry and the control circuitrydisposed thereon, wherein the antenna is disposed separately from thecircuit board.
 26. An apparatus comprising: a circuit board; radiocircuitry disposed on the circuit board; antenna circuitry disposedseparately from the circuit board, the antenna circuitry including anantenna and an impedance varying component, the antenna circuitry tocommunicate a radio frequency (RF) signal with the radio circuitry; awaveform generator disposed on the circuit board and coupled with theantenna; and control circuitry coupled with the radio circuitry and thewaveform generator, the control circuitry to control the waveformgenerator to provide a control waveform to the antenna to vary aresonance response of the antenna.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26,wherein the radio circuitry and the waveform generator aremonolithically integrated in a common die.
 28. The apparatus of claim26, further comprising: a filter coupled with the waveform generator,the filter to provide the control waveform to the antenna, wherein asensor is monolithically integrated in a common die with the radiocircuitry and the waveform generator.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28,wherein the filter is coupled with the antenna through an RFtransmission line of the radio circuitry.
 30. The apparatus of claim 28,wherein the circuit board is a first circuit board and the apparatusfurther comprises: a second circuit board disposed on the first circuitboard and having the radio circuitry, the waveform generator, and thefilter disposed thereon.
 31. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein theradio circuitry further comprises: a sensor to provide statusinformation to the control circuitry based on sensed electricalcharacteristics.
 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the sensor is tosense electrical characteristics at one more locations within the radiocircuitry and to provide radio status information based on the sensedelectrical characteristics.
 33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein thecontrol circuitry is to control the waveform generator based onpre-programmed tuning parameters.
 34. The apparatus of claim 26, whereinthe control circuitry is to control the waveform generator based onoperational parameters.